craft beer enthusiasts

Have you ever drank molasses straight out of the bottle? I have, and here’s the story about it…

(image/Saveur)

OK…you got me. It wasn’t straight molasses. But when it’s placed side by side next to most liquids that carry the moniker of “beer”, it might as well be. Being the month of April, I thought it might be fitting to discuss a festival that occurs each year around this time in the small town of Munster, Indiana. Never heard of Munster? Well, talk to any craft beer enthusiast for a few minutes about some of their favorite beers, and I’d hedge my bet that in the course of that short discussion that at least one beer by Three Floyd’s brewery is going to come up. Think of Munster as a Mecca for beer enthusiasts, and Three Floyd’s as a brewery that truly lives up to their self-imposed reputation of brewers of “not normal beer.”

Stubbornly limited quantities, combined with names so dark that you’re not quite sure if you really want to pursue them in the first place, will be sure to rouse your curiosity enough to try one. Followed by another. Followed by another. But beware…you’re going to travel down a road that will leave your taste buds longing for more, and in the case of Dark Lord, your wallet running dry…

Dark Lord Day is usually the last Saturday in the month of April, and it is on that one special day of the year that the Dark Lord is dragged out of his lair to bestow upon the many that have converged upon the small town of Munster a few limited bottles of a beer that is as dark as the soul of the Dark Lord himself. The festival offers the opportunity for you to sample other Three Floyd’s beers as well, but let’s face it–Dark Lord takes center stage. I’ve never been able to make the trip for Dark Lord Day, but instead, went in on a 3 bottle vertical (2012, 2013, and 2014) tasting courtesy of the website mybeercellar.com.

Best way to describe it? Imagine that Aunt Jemima and a bottle of Pennzoil had a love child. Heavy malt, a backbone of sweetness highlighted by its heavy use of vanilla and coffee, and a viscosity likened best to that of motor oil, it’s a huge expectation-destroyer of what you thought could be possible in a beer. I’d suggest sharing it only with those beer drinkers that are closest to you, as the cost and exclusivity of it are going to drive most others away, not to mention the heavy aftertaste that only a few will truly appreciate. Want to take it the next level after that? Do a search for some of the other varieties of Dark Lord (i.e. bourbon barrel aged with vanilla beans) and you’ll soon be on the road to financial ruin and beer ecstasy all bundled into one. But don’t worry…something tells me that’s just what the Dark Lord intended from the beginning…